


Hearts and Diamonds

by jju_nyaa (houjunmai)



Series: Our Princess Dongho [3]
Category: NU'EST, SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Attempt at Humor, Crack, Fairy Prince Jihoon, Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Fluff and Humor, Humor, M/M, Princess Dongho, Princess Seungcheol - formerly, Princess Seungkwan, attempt at contributing to the wonshua tag please be kind to me, come what may -- just like the plot of this fic lol, outed all the ships in the tags even if I haven't justified them yet, side BaekRen, side SeokSoon, side jigyu, side junhao
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-11-26
Packaged: 2019-07-08 02:17:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15920876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/houjunmai/pseuds/jju_nyaa
Summary: A year after Minhyun came home, Rabudeul Castle is once again teeming with life—and shenanigans—thanks to a bunch of welcome (or maybe not) visitors.





	1. Folding Screens and Secret Doors

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! If you’re expecting a sensible/dramatic/actual plot, congratulations, because this fic, er, doesn’t quite have it. It's been over a year since I first posted a Princess Dongho AU fic and I would like to celebrate a bit with some lovely and shiny Nu’venteen chapters, even if there’s really nothing pressing to read about, ha-hat.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even kings and queens are not spared from interruptions, inadvertent or otherwise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just want some fluffy 2hyun, yanno, but they end up being more toothache-y than crack 100% of the time I try to write them in this AU.

**— » — « —**

Jonghyun paused mid-yawn, starting a little as he once more took in the scenery framed by his bedchamber window. It looked familiar—he had seen it before—and the sense of having repeated this scenario occupied his thoughts until a fluster of sheets in the bed nearby stole his attention.

“Hmm…?”

Jonghyun smiled to himself as the déjà vu ended at the sight of Minhyun sitting up from his bed, next to the spot the king had previously occupied. If his memory served him right, the last time he saw an entourage of guests coming through the castle gates just like this, there was no Minhyun in this very room, with brows furrowed at him in either lethargy or inquiry or both.

“Slept badly?” Jonghyun asked, watching as Minhyun grunted and struggled against the bedclothes in search of his robes, then subsequently gave up as soon as the latter recognized what the former was wearing.

“Sorry,” Jonghyun went on unapologetically in response to the queen clucking his tongue. Soon, a bundle of bedclothes shuffled over to where the king sat, and he was able to make proper reparations by way of a morning kiss. Leaning snugly against his king, Minhyun peeked at the scene at the gates and hummed.

“On time this time.”

“On time this time,” Jonghyun echoed, his voice vibrating nicely against Minhyun’s temple.

“We should get dressed,” Minhyun said after a few moments of watching the procession advance towards the castle entrance.

“I am dressed,” Jonghyun replied absentmindedly, tightening his arms around the thick blankets covering his otherwise undressed spouse.

“And not funny,” Minhyun flicked the button of his own stolen shirt in annoyance. He felt Jonghyun heaving with silent laughter against him, and Minhyun’s eyes crinkled along despite himself.

“It would be bad form if we reward punctuality with tardiness, wouldn’t it?”

“Indeed, it would.”

“And as hosts, it would be intolerable to keep our guests waiting.”

“Simply intolerable.”

“And they are family.”

“Yes, they are.”

“So…”

“So.”

“…won’t Your Majesty let go of me now?”

Jonghyun bent his head towards Minhyun, twinkling eyes searching his face. The dull early morning cast a gentle dimness everywhere else but for the king’s smile as he answered, “Never.”

The looming threat of Minhyun losing even the blankets to Jonghyun came to an end through a violent—and timely—clearing of Aaron’s throat as he threw the door open.

“ _Hyuuunnnggg…_ ” Jonghyun whined at the newcomer as the bundle of bedclothes laughingly escaped his clutches and disappeared behind the folding screen on the other side of the room.

“Yes, well, do forgive me if I have to prove you wrong quite so literally and so early in the morning,” Aaron said bluntly, revealing that he had been within earshot for a while and was not even sorry for interrupting, “and what I had meant and wanted to say is a simple ‘Good morning, Your Majesties’ had the situation been more accommodating.”

“Good morning, Hyung!” The folding screen of moon and stars was cheerfully jostled as Minhyun busied himself with fabrics that actually fit.

“Yes, good morning, Minhyun-ah,” Aaron beamed at his king even as the latter frowned, apparently questioning whatever it was that was worth being smug about.

“Good morning, Hyu--Noahhhhh,” Jonghyun’s grudging greeting instantly switched to cooing when Noah bounded towards him in complete abandon. “Good morning, how are youuu?”

The dog’s lively barking filled the room as Jonghyun petted and played with Noah, forgetting Minhyun long enough for the other to finish getting dressed.

“I am surprised he did not marry Noah while I was away,” Minhyun quipped at the prince, watching the human-dog pair frolic as he fumbled with the buckles of his boot.

“I would be lying if I said I was never worried he might actually do,” Aaron acknowledged. He took a low chair and helped Minhyun with his footwear, adding, “but there was no doubt in my mind that, out of us four, Jonghyun was the one waiting the most for your return.”

Minhyun smiled. “You have an elaborate way of needlessly telling me to not be jealous of your dog.”

“I have had an elaborate way of needlessly telling myself to not be jealous of your husband.” Aaron retorted. “He's always had a way with animals but, well, I’m Noah’s father.” He patted Minhyun’s foot away and stood back up. “Come now, Noah!”

Noah cut short his affectionate licking of Jonghyun’s face to bark in obedience. He wriggled out of his arms, trotted over towards Aaron and followed him out of the room. “We’re expecting Your Majesties to be downstairs in no time,” the prince called back, giving his king and queen pointed looks each before disappearing once more.

Jonghyun, his right ear ringing from that final bark, stood up from the floor apologetically upon realizing that he got dog fur all over Minhyun’s clothes. “Sorry,” he said, meaning it this time as he patted the loose clothing.

Minhyun sighed, leaning back against the chair he was occupying. “You really should stop hanging out with Noah, he’s rubbed off on you nothing else but... _puppiness_. Or did I unwittingly marry a puppy?”

“Ah, but you love puppies,” Jonghyun countered, taking his turn to dress behind the folding screen.

“I should have married Noah then.”

“Noah doesn’t love you the way I do.”

Minhyun was sure that from behind the screen Jonghyun was wearing a grin identical to his, both of them knowing what Minhyun was supposed to say next.

“How do you love me?”

Jonghyun chuckled. “Let me count the ways…”

“You’re absurd, Jju-yah,” Minhyun said after they finished exchanging butchered lines from yet another sonnet, a routine that revealed how much they actually do love one another by being idiots together. “I feel like the bigger fool for agreeing to marry you.”

“There’s often no rhyme or reason when it comes to love, my love,” Jonghyun answered, pushing down the crown on his head lopsidedly.

Minhyun stood over to fix it for him. “Yet, my love, you’ve said something rather reasonable and wise just now.”

“Did I now?”

Minhyun leaned in and they shared a deep kiss. “It’s probably the crown talking,” he answered breathlessly. “You should wear it more often.”

“Yours looks good on you.”

“It does, doesn’t it?”

**— » — « —**

The current Caratteul inhabitants, which comprised over a dozen royals and their staff, now occupied a whole wing of the Rabudeul castle to themselves. It was not that surprising that Rabudeul could in fact accommodate them, given that said castle had once housed Seungcheol and some of his (then fellow, now his own) charges back when he was still a princess and without his own country to rule. Even now, he and Jeonghan occupied his previous quarters, which looked more or less the same as when he had left it years ago. One thing that made all of his visits to Rabudeul so great was that it still felt like home to him—and that it would probably continue to do so for who knows how long.

Jeonghan plopped on the bed they were to share for the duration of their stay, which was nothing more than a lengthy stopover from their latest adventure. It was Seungcheol’s idea—their company would have to pass by their old country on the way back to their own, so why not come visit and relax for a bit?

He had hesitated at first, as they—all thirteen of them—have just been there not six months ago for Jonghyun and Minhyun’s wedding. However, his initial misgivings turned out to be the unpopular opinion, as the other royals have themselves one or so business with their neighbours and extended family that an inadvertent stay was a most welcome notion for everyone.

“I want to go out of this room and make sure the kids are all settled in theirs but...” Jeonghan let himself fall on the mattress as he sighed, and Seungcheol knew very well that it meant “feeling too lazy to be bothered”. He knew his queen was currently fighting a longstanding battle within himself—a battle between love for their “children” and love for lying around—and Seungcheol was not sure which side he wanted to take, although he had automatically flopped down beside his spouse.

“Have some rest,” Seungcheol said after a few minutes of staring at their bed canopy and taking turns flicking each other’s hands in silence. “I’ll go check on the kids—”

“No, don’t go,” Jeonghan whined, grabbing the king’s hand.

The imploring tone hardly matched the incorrigible smirk that the queen wore. Soon enough, Seungcheol found himself mirroring it as he pulled Jeonghan on top of him.

“See, I told you this is _their_ room,” Wonwoo griped as he stepped into the room from behind a secret door, brushing cobwebs off of himself and his floppy hat of blue velvet. “Hi, Dad, Mom, sorry for interrupting.”

Wonwoo’s companion emerged similarly, his matching floppy hat of green velvet nearly hidden by a thick veil of spidery threads, some of which he had inadvertently inhaled. Soonyoung coughed unceremoniously, holding onto the other prince for dear life until the fit subsided and he could greet his king and queen. Or dad and mom, just as Wonwoo called them.

“Alright, fine, so I will need to draw a map,” Soonyoung huffed, looking around the bedroom for writing paraphernalia.

“Excuse me?” Seungcheol waved to his two charges, “mind telling us what’s going on?”

“Oh, never you mind us, Dad,” Soonyoung replied dismissively, heading towards the writing desk in one corner of the room. “Pray, proceed with making out with Mom, we’ll just be over here.”

Wonwoo had grabbed a chair and sat down beside Soonyoung, and soon the two princes were hunched over the desk. “No, we took the second left,” he was heard muttering while Soonyoung scribbled.

Jeonghan chuckled, pushing himself off of his husband. He headed over towards the two princes and peeked over their floppy hats. “That doesn’t look like a map,” he commented after a while.

“I’ll have Mingyu draw the final draft,” Soonyoung answered distractedly, crossing out yet another arrow that Wonwoo had corrected.

“That doesn’t even look like a draft,” Seungcheol joined in, pressing his whole weight against Soonyoung’s back.

“ _Please, Your Majesties,_ we’d sooner finish this and get out of your room if you’d, you know, do what you’re better off doing,” Soonyoung then turned to Wonwoo, “so which turn is to Seokminnie’s old room?”

“Hello, Hyung, which what is to my old room?” Seokmin asked, peeking out from the same secret door and looking fresh and cobweb-free. Looking even fresher, Jisoo stepped into the room after Seokmin and gave everyone a serene smile.

“Goodness me,” Jeonghan was on the verge of laughing. Seungcheol wanted to be affronted by the subsequent intrusions, but the way things were going seemed to indicate that they may not need to go check on the children all that much.

“Ooh, are you drawing the map?” Seokmin asked, after affectionately tackling Jeonghan and Seungcheol off of the pair huddled over the writing desk. “Oh, that one’s where I met Jisoo-hyung earlier, so if you backtrack here, it leads to my old room with him and Seungkwannie.”

“Wait—hold my floppy hat. Who’s rooming with whom now?” Soonyoung frowned.

Seokmin shrugged, but held the older prince’s hat in place anyway.

“I don’t think anyone else is sharing,” Jisoo answered as his eyes scanned the bookshelf across the writing desk, “apart from Cheol and Han, I mean.”

“Come, Hyung, let’s go back in there and find out,” Seokmin suggested and, soon enough, he and Soonyoung disappeared through the secret door which then disappeared into the wall. A roll of parchment, a couple of quills and the ink bottle were notably missing from the previously occupied desk.

“Will no one go after those two?” Seungcheol asked. “They might get lost.”

Wonwoo, who had drifted away from the desk and succumbed to the magnetic pull of the bed, stretched out and yawned by way of replying. “Oh, uhh, they will, but we can just ask the servants to round them up before dinner. They’ll have finished the map by then, I think.”

“They do know they can just ask Minki, right?”

Wonwoo gave the tiniest of shrugs. “True, but where’s the fun in that? By the by, this bed is most relaxing.”

“Dear me, I can’t find your favorite storybook, Wonwoo-yah,” Jisoo said abruptly, “I think we should go look for it in Jonghyun’s library.”

“What? No, I want to stay here,” Wonwoo complained.

“Library,” the prince repeated, holding out his hand imperiously.

Grumbling, Wonwoo took the proffered hand and allowed himself to be pulled up from his comfortable lounging. “I’m not really in the mood to read.”

“Are you also not in the mood to pet the cats?”

“Oh.”

“Thought as much.”

“Hyung, you do know that they do know we’re all past the awkwardness of seeing them kiss, right?” Wonwoo insisted even as he followed Jisoo out the actual door of the bedroom opening out into the actual hallway.

“I still don’t think anyone of you are quite ready to have them fully demonstrate how their shamelessness knows no bounds,” Jisoo could be heard answering before their conversation faded.

“We are not _that_ shameless,” Seungcheol tried to argue, looking to his queen. “Are we?”

Jeonghan thought for a bit. “Probably not, seeing as I don’t think you’ve ever wanted to have me all to yourself that much.”

Seungcheol snorted. “Hark! For never was a story taller than our Mingyu been told before.”

“Oh, do I love your candor, my darling, my king.”

Then, after moving the writing desk against the wall where the secret door ought to remain hidden, Seungcheol and Jeonghan demonstrated how shameless they were to one another, thereby proving Jisoo’s statement to be correct and accurate. 

**— » to be continued « —**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Other relationship and character tags will be added as chapters go-go-go! In the meantime, your feedback would be most welcome!


	2. Holding Hands While Walking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan is a princess, and Hansol is his prince. And together, they are detectives, although Minki is happy enough whenever people do get along _so_ well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know how VerKwan is that ship you ship by default like it’s so canon you hardly, if not never, pay attention to them at all? I kinda have regrets, maybe I should be catching up on these cuties.

**— » — « —**

“Here, let me get that for you.”

Said Hansol for about half the time since Seungkwan started unpacking his things. Caratteul’s princess was a little upset over not getting his old room in Rabudeul Castle, having lost the game of rock-paper-scissors yesterday against Seokmin on the way. He was so used to his old room that he could not quite figure out how and where to place his things in the new one.

His loss was only improved by having, in fact, won Hansol’s old room, and that Hansol’s new room was right next to it. The rooms even had a connecting door, which made it easy for the prince to come over and help him out with his trunks and trunks of princess things. It took roughly the same time—about ten minutes, give or take—for Hansol to finish instructing his servants where and how to unpack his own things and for Seungkwan to scream in frustration.

“Oh, what would I even do without you,” said Seungkwan out of sheer gratitude for not having to think about things like whether he should ask his servant to put his hat boxes on the fourth shelf or the fifth shelf. He was even saved from having to keep his temper in check; Hansol did all the ‘sweet’-talking because he was simply that—a genuinely sweet person who hardly snapped at anyone. Seungkwan, in all fairness, had always been gracious and polite with his attendants, but he did have a temper. He didn't want to risk making them think he was irritated at them instead of the predicament he was currently in. And in this case, making decisions where to put what in this room.

Hansol chuckled. “I’d rather you sit there, be pretty, and take things easy. I’m sure you’re tired.”

“But you're tired, too.”

“I’m fine. Glad to be of service.”

“Come, sit with me and be pretty, too.”

“By all means; just give me a minute more.”

Seungkwan fixed his skirts and looked on with obvious admiration as Hansol gave both their attendants clear and precise instructions. How on earth does he even manage to look so glorious all the time? Between the two of them, Seungkwan had the real gift of singing and the arts. Yet Hansol’s voice had always been such music to his ears even when he was just talking, and more so if he was talking nonsense. Even his most violent sneezing would sound like musical bells to the princess.

Soon, the prince joined the princess on the little table in one corner of the room where they sat together, looked at one another, and gave each other stupid, goofy smiles until Chan came in and disrupted their blissful peace for such a mundane concern as to whether or not they knew where Jisoo-hyung had gone to.

“Hmm?” the pair hummed in unison, giving him identical vacant expressions.

Chan took one proper look at them and rolled his eyes. “Ugh.”

“What,” Seungkwan snapped.

The youngest prince drew a deep breath, mustering a lungful of patience before repeating, “Do either of you know where Jisoo-hyung is?”

“Who’s Jisoo-hyung?” the princess snorted in derision, turning his head back towards Hansol, who smothered a giggle at Chan’s offended stare. The prince gave their youngest a proper answer as a peace offering. “We don’t know. We haven’t really seen him around yet as we’ve only finished packing.”

“Thank you, Hansol-hyung. That was easy, wasn’t it, _Hyung_?” Chan then directed the last part at Seungkwan, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

“There, there, children, isn’t it too early in the morning for fighting?”

Minki, in his early morning fabulousness, fabulously stepped into the room, giving the trio a fabulous little wave of his hand.

“Minki-hyung!” Seungkwan stood up and threw himself at the prince. “I have missed you so.”

“Minki-hyung, we’ve missed you too!” another pair greeted in unison. Soonyoung and Seokmin emerged from the connecting door to Hansol’s room.

Seungkwan looked a little horrified at the intrusion, at least, until he remembered such things were normal from back when they all spent their days under King Jonghyun’s roof.

“Oh-ho, a connecting door from Nonnie’s to Kwannie’s, how…typical,” Soonyoung commented, scribbling on the parchment he was holding. The knowing smile on his face made Seungkwan turn a delicate shade of pink. “I don’t see you sulking anymore, eh, eh?” Soonyoung went on, waggling his eyebrows at the princess.

“Oh, shush.”

“I love it when everyone gets along so well!” Minki said, clapping his hands together. “I’m truly looking forward to seeing you all again later for lunch, yes?”

“Of course!” Seokmin cheered. “Soonyoung-hyung, I think we’d best hurry. Minki-hyung, you’ll help us with the map later, yes?”

“What map?” Minki asked, but the drifting pair had gone back into Hansol’s room and seemed to have disappeared into thin air and not a minute later.

“Minki-hyung, do you know where Jisoo-hyung is?” Chan ventured. “I couldn’t find him in his room.”

“Oh, Jisoo?” Minki nodded. “As a matter of fact, I’ve just seen him. He and Wonwoo were headed to Jonghyun’s library.” His expression turned rather soft and mushy. “I do love how they’re getting along so well! Since when did they—do you have any idea?”

“Pardon?” Chan asked, after quite a long pause.

“Pardon what?” Minki said, confused by the blank stares he was getting.

“Hyung, what do you mean?” Hansol probed. “They do get along well, I mean, we all do…?”

Minki hesitated. Was he, in fact, talking to actual children for them to not get at what he was asking? However, he knew they were all sharp and observant; it was impossible for them to be giving him such ridiculous answers as what he has been getting.

“Oh my goodness!” Seungkwan blurted out after a beat. “Do you mean Jisoo-hyung and Wonwoo-hyung…?”

“What? No way!” Hansol’s face scrunched up so beautifully in disbelief that Seungkwan nearly got distracted by it.

“Well, they were half-arguing and yet grinning at each other when I met them,” Minki offered, feeling sorry for the growing expression on Chan’s face as he went on, “and they told me they wanted to see Jonghyun’s books and cats so I confirmed where his library was at. And they went on their way and I, on mine. But I’m certain I heard Jisoo laughing at Wonwoo’s stupid joke and they kept holding hands while walking…?”

“Oh, my,” Seungkwan and Hansol breathed airily, looking at one another, rather stunned.

“Oh, _no_ ,” the youngest prince breathed heavily, the final syllable sounding rather guttural.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Hansol’s half chuckle and bright smile looked like they were about to save the day as he looked at Seungkwan eagerly. “We don’t really know for sure, but do you know what this means?” he asked.

“Ooh, do tell!” the princess gushed, unable to keep his tone in check.

“An investigation. We should open one. Nonnie and Kwannie.”

“How adorable! Are you detectives now?” Minki cooed.

“In our spare time, quite right,” Hansol answered, a bit embarrassed. He turned to a miserable-looking Chan, placing a hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right, Channie, we’ll find out the truth for you.”

“Hah, you’re too nice, Nonnie, but Kwannie is _not_ doing this for him,” Seungkwan huffed. However, he was most immediately placated by Chan clinging to him in a half sob.

The youngest prince sniffled. “Suddenly I have a lot of tears, but I do not want to cry.”

The princess patted his head. “Oh, no… there, there, there.”

**— » — « —**

If any pair were actually holding hands while walking towards the library, it would be none other than the king and queen of Rabudeul. Jonghyun and Minhyun had finished meeting their subjects with varied concerns, and the day’s routine task left them unusually heavy of heart. Perhaps it was because the news of an akgae infestation in one of the outer villages came out of nowhere. And that it came at a time they were both looking forward to enjoying the company of their Caratteul brothers. Or it could be that an akgae infestation left some deep scars to both that they could not help but revisit the unspoken pain during the time they were apart.

Thus, the king and queen held hands as they left the great hall, seeking repose away from their duties and comfort from their intertwined fingers. They found themselves entering Jonghyun’s personal library, which not only contained shelves of his book collections but also his beloved cats. There were comfortable carpeted nests of cushions and pillows for the casual reader and cat admirer; anyone looking for a much-needed break would not go wrong in taking it there.

“It is not even ten in the morning and I already miss you,” Jonghyun admitted, squeezing Minhyun’s hand as they stepped inside. As soon as the door closed, Minhyun’s arms wrapped around him in a fierce embrace.

“How is it that I miss you even more so,” Minhyun then murmured, “when we’ve never even been away from each other for more than five minutes since waking up?”

Jonghyun's laugh was rather hard and bitter. He instead answered the question by returning the embrace even tighter. He could feel Minhyun shuddering against him, the warm face against his ear telling him that his queen was fighting back tears and losing. “I’m here,” he whispered, “and you’re here. We’re here.”

Minhyun nodded then gently pulled away. He sniffled and wiped his tears with the back of his hand. “The village will be all right, won’t they?”

“Our experts are on it. They… they know what to do.” Jonghyun smiled. He gently bumped his crown against Minhyun’s, eliciting a little laughter from his spouse. “I think it would be better for us to get some sunlight and see the turtles and potatoes instead. What say you, my love, hmm?”

“And breakfast by the ponds?” Their hands were once again clasped together.

“And breakfast by the ponds. Let’s take the route to the back so we could inform the kitchens on the way.”

The door to the library was once more heard opening and closing. From one of the pillow nests, Wonwoo let out a relieved sigh when Jisoo removed his hand from the other prince’s mouth.

“Sorry about that,” Jisoo muttered, “force of habit, you see.”

“Do you mean trying to be inconspicuous whenever Jonghyun-hyung and Minhyun-hyung are together?”

“Or blending in the environment, whichever you prefer.”

Wonwoo furrowed his brows. “You don’t look bothered about it, Jisoo-hyung.”

Jisoo adjusted himself against the cushions, or as much as he could without disturbing the two cats that each have claimed an area of his body as their personal beds. His book lay forgotten beside him as he turned towards Wonwoo with a level gaze. To the younger prince’s credit, he was able to return it without falter.

“You’ve been spying here all that time you stayed last year,” Wonwoo hazarded a guess.

Jisoo chuckled, looking impressed. “Bravo, Wonwoo-yah. You’ve always been better at this than I have.”

“You’ve improved. Orders from above?”

“Dad and Mom had…concerns.” Jisoo shrugged. Unlike the younger princes, Jisoo hardly referred to Seungcheol and Jeonghan as ‘Dad’ and ‘Mom’, respectively, by virtue of his being the same age as their king and queen. During times in which he did, he’d meant it to be nothing more than making fun of his two closest friends.

“Concerns,” Wonwoo snorted.

“Concerns,” Jisoo repeated, shaking his head. “I’ve only ever been a spy in name and not so much in fact. There was nothing to find out nor tell them. Neither did they even ask anything other than when will the wedding be.”

“And you spent three months here for what exactly?”

Jisoo shrugged again. “This is a lovely country.”

They fell silent for a while. Wonwoo somewhat hesitated before asking the question which bugged him. “Do you know what was that about?”

Jisoo took some time with choosing his words. “I think,” Jisoo began, “that it was a simple case of having been reminded of those times. You know, when Minhyun had to be away. I’m guessing this morning had something to do with an akgae infestation again—those two had to deal with that very same problem all the while they were apart. I don't think today’s case is as bad as it was before but they… we know how they’ve been through most things.”  
“You were helping out while you were here, weren’t you?”

“Not as much as I would’ve loved to.”

“Would you have stayed longer if I had not come to bring you home?”

“I still would’ve left around the time you came to fetch me. There was only so much I could do for them when we also have things to do at home.” Jisoo’s mouth twitched suspiciously, like it wanted to curve into a smile but changed its mind. “Nevertheless, I’m grateful that you were asked to come. The trip home wasn’t lonely because you were with me.”

“I did not come because I was asked,” Wonwoo said, opting to reopen his book and pretend he could still focus on reading.

“Wonwoo…”

“Hm?”

“Does it not hurt…how you’re lying down?”

Wonwoo winced. “My neck does hurt a bit.” There were three cats perched on him—one of them had staked its claim on his floppy hat—and when he tried to adjust his back the way Jisoo did—,

“Hyung… my leg fell asleep. Could you help—”

Wonwoo immediately regretted asking for help upon seeing the glint in Jisoo’s eyes. He has always been very partial to how cat-like the older prince’s eyes appeared, often having the urge to reach out and _pet_ him. Yet, even at that point when they sparkled with mischief and that he was clearly about to be on the receiving end of it, Wonwoo cursed himself for being too drawn in to watch out for the hand that—he _knew_ —was already reaching out for his leg.

“No, don’t you dare—”

Wonwoo’s howl pierced through the silence of the library, sending a flurry of cats awake and scrambling in different directions. Jisoo’s outstretched hand was left hanging in the air—another cat had beat him to his game and decided to jump right on Wonwoo’s leg. The younger prince curled towards the older, burying his face on the latter’s lap as pins and needles sent waves of torturous tingles in his body. Jisoo laughed in sympathy and reached over to help massage his calf.

There was another spell of silence until—“Dongho?”

A wild-looking princess had popped out from the pillow nest from across theirs, blinking absently.

“Jisoo,” Dongho growled, squinting at the lump beside the prince. “Who’s that?”

“It’s Wonwoo. He’s in pain.” As if to demonstrate, Jisoo slapped the leg he was massaging. With a muffled roar, Wonwoo blindly reached out to smack him right back.

“Hmm… If you’re both into that sort, I believe you’ll need to figure out who’s supposed to hit whom,” Dongho suggested, voice still heavy with sleep, as he felt around the cushions. He dug out several scrolls and a couple of books.

“Did you stay up all night here?” Jisoo asked.

“Ah, no. I just got up a bit too early and headed over here to look some things over, but, well…” The princess trailed off. “Why is Wonwoo here again—oh, quite right, you’re all supposed to have arrived today. Say, whatever is the time of day?”

“Jonghyun-hyung did say it’s not yet ten in the morning,” Wonwoo supplied, recovering enough to have been able to sit back up. Still red in the face, he nevertheless took over massaging his own leg.

“Oh, dear, I need to make myself pretty and presentable first,” Dongho sighed, stuffing his scrolls and books haphazardly in a satchel. Gathering up his skirts, the Rabudeul princess stood up and made sure he didn’t leave anything behind before turning back to the pair who still sat among the cushions. “Have you seen either Minki or Jihoon?”

“We met Minki earlier, but Jihoonnie…no, I don’t believe I’ve seen him since we’ve arrived.” Jisoo turned to Wonwoo, “Have you?”

Wonwoo shook his head. “Soonyoung had dragged me elsewhere before I could meet the rest.”

“Eh, I suppose it can wait,” Dongho grunted dismissively. “But please tell Minki he can find me in my chambers if he wants to help pick out a dress for lunch.”

And once more, Jisoo and Wonwoo were left to themselves. It wasn’t long before Wonwoo spoke up.

“Tell me, Hyung.”

“Hm?”

“Given the chance, who would you have married back then, Princess Dongho or Princess Seungcheol?”

“No.”

Wonwoo fell among the cushions in slow clapping and silent laughter.

**— » to be continued « —**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Supplies, a WonSoo! And some PTSD kingdom problems thrown in for a bit of 2hyun hurt/comfort? :’( Aaand I can’t live without ever mentioning Princess Dongho’s skirts. Also just in case it wasn’t clear from the last chapter, Seungcheol was a princess before he became a king.


	3. Strange Brews Summoning Fairies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jeonghan and Mingyu are each given confidence boosts. Dongho loves food. Soonyoung and Seokmin obtain secret knowledge while Nonnie and Kwannie remain in pursuit of the truth. Minhyun and Jeonghan realize they share destinies in more ways than they thought at first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Originally wrote Hao as Myungho in the drafts and changed it to Minghao in the last minute; please let me know if you spot any runaway Myungho's in this chapter, lol.
> 
> Here's chapter 3, enjoy!

**— » — « —**

In the end, Seungcheol and Jeonghan did get out of their room to check the rest of their charges’ progress with getting settled. There was enough time–even after having spent about half of it shamelessly within the confines of their bedchambers–before they were due to meet with Jonghyun and Minhyun for a customary private audience.

Seungkwan was first and foremost; having the most luggage after the queen himself. However, all they found were his—and Hansol’s—servants, having just finished unpacking and setting Seungkwan’s things in his new room.

So much for making sure that their princess was all right—he was nowhere to be found. Immediate hope was placed on the possibility that Hansol was at the very least with him.

They found Chan next, sullen and lifeless, who claimed to be a bit under the weather and asked to be excused from further activities until lunch. Jeonghan’s worries were placated by an unlikely assurance from their youngest prince—he returned what he normally considered to be a smothering embrace from the queen, all without so much as a word of complaint.

On their way out, Seungcheol ordered one of Chan’s servants to bring the prince some chicken soup to cheer up his crippled soul.

Another empty room–although it was to no surprise of theirs–was Soonyoung’s. Seungcheol knew that Soonyoung and Seokmin were preoccupied elsewhere, but he could only guess what they might be up to. At any rate, Jeonghan reminded him that they had extracted a promise out of Wonwoo to look for them in case they get lost before dinner. Seungcheol could almost swear on his authority as king that Wonwoo only talked about asking the servants, but if his queen said someone promised something, then someone did promise something and that was it.

A turn of the hallway gave them both pause and hope. The royal pair found themselves approaching one of the sitting rooms shared by the occupants of their wing, and music floated through the open doorway.

“Hello, Dad, Mom,” Junhui greeted without pause from his playing. He was on the harp, plucking an amusing little piece. Jeonghan thought he recognized it as a variation of one of the prince’s little creations from long ago while they still lived in this palace.

Minghao and Mingyu sat on armchairs from across Junhui, echoing the older prince’s greeting. Both had their sketchbooks and charcoal sticks out. While Minghao was obviously working on a sketch of the harp player before him, Mingyu’s attention was elsewhere, made plain by what he appeared to have drawn.

“That’s not Junhui,” Jeonghan commented, looking over Mingyu’s shoulder.

Beside them, Minghao snorted. “He’s not drawing Junhui.”

Mingyu sighed in melancholy. “What are the odds of Jihoon-hyung telling me how much I’ve improved if I show him this, do you know, Mom?”

“Oh, my dear,” Jeonghan cupped Mingyu’s cheek, “You’ve already improved so much, you know that.”

“Last time, I showed him a poem I wrote about him and all he said was that his eyes do not ‘sparkle like diamonds’ as they’re never anything other than bleary because he doesn’t get enough sleep.”

“Well,” Seungcheol shrugged, “he’s often very literal…at times.”

“And yet each year he writes lovely little ditties for Jeonghan-hyung’s birthday?”

“It’s Jeonghan-hyung,” Minghao supplied. “He cannot help but write ditties for Jeonghan-hyung. Anyone would do anything for Jeonghan-hyung. He’s our Mom.”

As Mingyu and Minghao started yet again on one of their little debates, Jeonghan staggered back towards Seungcheol. He whispered in a bit of a daze, “Am I getting complimented…that is, loved…by our children?”

“What?”

The queen grasped the king’s arm with some urgency. “First, Chan returned my embrace. Then, Minghao...you heard him. Even Mingyu has asked for my opinion.”

Seungcheol fought to keep a straight face. “Oh, darling…”

There had been times—a lot, in fact—in the past when their charges found Jeonghan’s need—both to love and be loved—to be in equal parts smothering. A prime example would be their youngest, Chan, who once—or was it twice? —ran away from the castle and hid in the woods because of Jeonghan. Seungcheol himself was as ‘excessive’ in displaying his affection towards his household, but, unfortunately for the queen, Jeonghan beat him by quite a margin.

“Like what Minghao said,” Seungcheol answered, taking his spouse’s hand and squeezing it, “anyone would do anything for you. We only both know you have ridiculous demands and it’s often difficult to keep up.”

Narrowing his eyes, Jeonghan said, “You don’t seem to have trouble keeping up with my _ridiculous_ demands.”

“I’m a king,” Seungcheol shrugged and kissed the back of the hand he was holding.

Jeonghan huffed, turning his head away. No matter how much his husband asserted his kingly attributes, Jeonghan knew how much of a princess he still really is deep down inside. He didn’t pull his hand away, however, and instead looped his arm around Seungcheol’s.

“What are you even saying?” Minghao exclaimed, looking incredulously at Mingyu. “You’re the best there is, Mingyu-yah. There is not a lot of royalty out there who can do what you do and who can look as fetching as you do on your worst day.”

“Truly?” Mingyu’s snaggletooth was peeking out from the corner of his mouth.

Well… yes,” the other prince agreed, “except for Jeonghan-hyung, of course. There is none fairer in the world that he alone. But you yourself do rather well at any time of the day than a lot of us.”

“That’s quite true. For example, I’m always told I take forever to look anything other than passable.”

Dongho, looking very much like a presentable princess, interjected as he stepped in the room escorted by Minki. The pair curtsied and bowed to the Caratteul king and queen, who returned the courtesy with faces perceptibly finding the formalities amusing. They could not, however, pass up an opportunity for a good joke among same-aged friends.

“What are you saying, Dongho-yah, you always do look exquisite,” Minki countered.

“You only say that after you’ve nagged me to death about which jewellery set goes best with my train.”

“Why does that sound vaguely familiar,” Seungcheol mumbled. An elbow to his side from Jeonghan answered him. Twisting in a mixture of pain and mirth, the king amended through helpless giggles, “I said ‘vaguely’, I did!”

Rubbing the spot on his arm where Minki had also hit him, Dongho peeked at Mingyu’s sketch and remembered why he was there. “By the by, I met Seungkwan and Hansol on my way from the library. And they told me that, if I wanted to find Jihoon nowadays, it would be easiest if I asked for your help.”

“My help, Hyung?” Mingyu repeated dumbly.

“Indeed, they said there’d be no doubt of your finding him no matter what.”

“That is true,” the prince conceded, trying to fight off a proud grin.

“Like a hound, they said,” Minki added with a hesitant nod of approval, unsure if what he repeated was an actual compliment.

Junhui made baying sounds like those of hounds, right to the tune of the music he was playing. “Pawing at love’s door, ooh,” he sang. Minghao—much affected by the music and singing—paused from his artwork, closed his eyes, and placed a hand over his own heart.

“Mingyu does have a knack for luring out Jihoon, if I may say so myself,” Jeonghan mused. “He’s now a toadstool expert on top of all his other skills.”

“Is Jihoon still such a fairy?” Minki asked.

“Mingyu has found him near fairy rings from time to time but lately Jihoon shows up more often whenever Mingyu cooks something very nice,” Seungcheol answered, patting Mingyu’s head out of gratitude. “Goodness knows how many times he has saved the kingdom by making sure Jihoon is present during meetings where I’m away and Soonyoung is present.”

Basking in the praise, Mingyu threw all six feet and an inch of himself at Seungcheol for a bear-grip, death-hug hug. “I love you, Hyung. I’ll make sure to cook more for you than ever.”

Minghao rolled his eyes. “Save the king while you’re at it, Gyu, he’s dying of asphyxiation.”

Minki clapped his hands. “So, I take it that we’re up for a field trip to the kitchens?”

Dongho sighed contentedly. “I love food.”

**— » — « —**

The midday dinner bell has rung and Jonghyun’s household has gathered in the smaller dining hall with their guests. The long table looked like it was finally fulfilling its purpose; almost all seats were occupied and hardly an inch of tablecloth could be seen through the plates of food. Minhyun looked like he shared in sentiments the long table might have had if it were capable of doing so; content and happy to look after so many people.

“I’m stumped,” Hansol muttered to Seungkwan as they sat together, watching the servants do their work of serving everyone in turn. He had been stealing glances from the other end of the table where a certain pair also sat together and exchanged muttered conversations.

Seungkwan and Hansol’s investigation had so far provided not enough leads to prove whether Jisoo and Wonwoo have been favouring one another, in secret or otherwise not just obvious. When they got to Jonghyun’s library, the pair of interest were already on their way out towards the tea room. The detectives accepted their invitation, and apart from sharing a cake—which they all normally do—the younger pair found nothing that indicated further intimacy between the older princes.

Right across them sat Chan, who wore no sign of his feelings towards the topic of their investigation. Chan was laughing at Aaron’s fifth anecdote about Noah, and appeared to have completely forgotten the possibility of complications with his beloved Jisoo-hyung.

“Chan’s good,” Hansol began, shaking his head, “but I’m sure he’ll be demanding answers later on.”

“I’d hate for Minki-hyung to be proven wrong, but I wish he’d be,” Seungkwan huffed. “Are you certain you want to spend all our vacation here snooping around and waiting around for Wonwoo-hyung to show _feelings_?”

Hansol chuckled. “Come now, dearest, Wonwoo-hyung has definitely shown a wide range of emotions in all the years we’ve known him.”

“I know,” Seungkwan answered, glowing at being called ‘dearest’. “I’ve seen him look so fondly at Jisoo-hyung all morning so shouldn’t that count as evidence?”

“Let’s give it a whole day,” Hansol threw him a winning smile. “There might be a lot more to discover.”

Seungkwan couldn’t find it in his heart to say no.

“So, what is this map you’ve been mentioning?” Minki was finally able to inquire.

Soonyoung and Seokmin were late and dusty with cobwebs—they did get lost and Wonwoo completely forgot about them. It was not until he arrived for dinner and saw Seungcheol’s pointed stare—from him to a couple of empty seats to his left—that Wonwoo remembered to ask some Rabudeul servants to fetch the two.

After all, if anyone would be familiar with the servant halls and secret passageways throughout the castle, it would be none other than King Jonghun’s servants.

Minki let out a bark of laughter as soon as Soonyoung presented his draft. “Oh, you meant this!” he said as soon as he could recover from his mirth over their state of clothing.

“Ahh, yes, quite a long journey Grandma and I had in search of such secret knowledge, yes,” Seokmin nodded sagely, raising a ‘rheumatic’ arm to pat ‘Grandma’ Soonyoung’s silver hair of cobwebs.

“Oh, dear, you are such a wise olde sweetie,” Soonyoung cooed, squinting at ‘Grandpa’ Seokmin to rearrange his spidery threads into a more flattering form. He added to Minki, “Grandpa and I would be glad to pass off our discoveries to our splendid youngsters. If only you could lend us your expert eye first?”

Minki laughed again. “I’ll have our Princess Dongho take look at this later—oh my goodness, you’re both hysterical.” It was debatable whether Minki was able to get a decent amount of food all throughout dinner, having the fortune of sitting across the ‘elderly’ couple.

“So, Dongho-hyung,” Seungkwan began, “If Jonghyun-hyung is Jju-yah, does that make you Jjejju-yah or...?”

Some collective choking on wine would have been more audible from the head of the table had Dongho not burst out laughing, the sudden forward movement making him drop his tiara on his thankfully empty plate with an obnoxious clatter.

“Goodness, no,” Dongho sputtered as he scooped his fallen coronet. “And you need to know this because…?”

Seungkwan helped out, expertly returning the tiara on the crown of Dongho’s head, as he answered, “Well, I only wish to know if it would also apply to myself, seeing as we came from the same region. It’s not as if I wish to be called Jjejju-yah, as well, or anything like that, of course.”

“Ooh, I can call you Jjejju-yah if you want,” Hansol immediately offered.

The princess brightened. “I knew I could always count on my Bononnie.”

“That’s lovely, but please don’t,” Aaron advised, although his attempt at giving out grave warnings was subverted by the chuckle that escaped him first. “Or, at least, try not to do so within hearing of either Jonghyun or Minhyun.”

“I don’t see why they feel the need to be embarrassed,” Chan interjected, looking rather confused as he glanced towards the head of the table. “It’s not as embarrassing as when Mom calls Dad, ‘SS Coups-yah’ every time he wants to go sailing on their ship.”

“It is because, unlike our parents, both Jonghyun-hyung and Minhyun-hyung have enough decency left to feel embarrassment, warranted or not,” Minghao supplied.

“I could be wrong, but I’m detecting some familiar long-range derision aimed over here,” Seungcheol sat up straighter, nose in the air and sniffing. “Beware, Jonghyun-ah, some of it might just be for you…”

Jonghyun stiffened in alarm. “Do you truly think so?”

Seungcheol nodded in earnest. “Trust me.”

“Oh, no, Jonghyun-ah, please don’t.” Jeonghan laughed in close-range derision, and Seungcheol gave him a look of utter betrayal. The queen cupped his king’s face with his hands and cooed, “You’ve always been ridiculous, but you know that I love you, don’t you?”

“Buuut—!” Seungcheol whined.

Minhyun raised a goblet towards Jeonghan. “A toast, Jeonghannie, to having married actual _puppies_ …”

“Oy!” The two kings chorused.

“Aww…” Their queens replied in kind.

“Gross,” Junhui shivered, turning away from the double pair as Jisoo choked on his drink and Wonwoo started singing a ballad about ‘ _needing a hand to hold_ ’ under his breath.

“I can’t believe he’s not coming,” Mingyu groaned, giving the bowl of concoction in the middle of the table a forlorn gaze. It was still piping hot and billowing with steam when the servants first placed it across the empty seat next to the prince. There barely was any smoke left now; still, the seat remained empty.

“That can’t be,” Minghao spoke, alarmed at the realization: the brew had been sitting for over ten minutes but Jihoon has not yet arrived.

Taking a sudden break from being a grandma, Soonyoung turned his attention towards them, the serious expression on his face a stark contrast from his often waggish face. “What’s going on?” he asked. One look, however, from the brew to the empty seat, and a quick sweep of the long table told him all that he needed to know.

Seungcheol’s gaze met that of Soonyoung’s and the question came out before anyone else could speak. “Who are we missing?” asked the Caratteul king.

“Jihoon.”

**— » to be continued « —**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How does one go about getting a beta reader? Help? You can reach me through twitter (same username) if interested. Thanks!


	4. Cross Blades and Brow Codes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mingyu leads the search for his fairy, but the party ends up finding something else equally cute and, uh, sinister. Wonwoo knee-jerks himself into an unforeseen counselling session with Jonghyun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nay, fic, I has’t not abandoned thee. NU’EST W comeback in a few!!! ~~Lord help us all.~~ Have a chapter while waiting?

**— » — « —**

“Dongho-yah.”

“Minki-yah.”

“We’ve done this before, haven’t we?”

Dongho turned to Minki in confusion. “Done which one?”

The prince gestured around them. Aside from himself and the princess were their servants and roughly a third of the Caratteul royals and their servants. All on horseback, members of a search party. Dongho laughed, recognizing the familiarity of such a scene except there was no tiara involved and they’ve set out in the afternoon instead of morning.

“I doubt there’ll be bears this time,” he answered with confidence.

“With you, one never knows when a bear might come in question.”

“What’s that about a bear?” Seungcheol interrupted, eyes bright with interest.

“Over here!” Mingyu shouted, gesturing for them to move forward.

Another thing different from last time was that there was no need for Dongho to lead; Mingyu and the others knew the lands quite well enough to navigate on their own.

Yet, how come Jihoon had gone missing?

As soon as the loss was discovered, Jeonghan’s relaxed manner was immediately replaced by a familiar mixture of panic and action. At his urging, two search parties were assembled—one to search the castle and grounds and the other to backtrack the route they took. Jonghyun and some others were left in the throne room to await Jihoon in case he magically appeared, as per Mingyu’s instructions.

Being the hailed expert on tracking and summoning Prince Jihoon, the search party followed Mingyu’s lead. They headed towards a ring of toadstools—a fairy ring—just a little off the path they were taking.

Seungcheol nodded. “He’s been here all right. Unless you’ve got other fairies around these parts?” he asked Dongho and Minki.

“Nay. Neither has Jonghyun ever been here recently,” Minki answered.

“Mingyu’s found another one,” Minghao said, nodding towards the prince some ways away.

“There’s one other over there... and horse tracks.” Mingyu’s voice rang clear from amongst the trees. The rest of the party trailed after him. He found another fairy ring before determining that the missing prince stopped and got off his horse.

“It looks like Jihoon-hyung went on foot to study something in this area for a few minutes before going back on his horse. See those cute little footmarks? I can recognize those anywhere,” Mingyu beamed, his snaggletooth peeking from the corner of his mouth.

Dongho and Jeonghan, who were nearest, tried to see what Mingyu was pointing at. Seeing only dead leaves and generic components of a generic forest floor, they nodded at one another before Dongho reached up to ruffle Mingyu’s hair.

“Good boy, well done,” he said, finishing up with a pat on the prince’s back.

“Oh, he’s awfully smitten, isn’t he?” Minki, turning to Seungcheol and Minghao, muttered confidentially.

“Over Jihoon-hyung?” Minghao clarified. “For the longest time.”

“But it doesn’t seem like Jihoonie’s returning the favour?”

Seungcheol frowned for a moment before it dawned on him what Minki was asking. “No,” he sniggered, Minghao echoing his sentiments.

“Oh, no, no,” the Caratteul king continued, noticing the alarm in the Rabudeul prince’s countenance, “I only meant that normally it looks like Jihoon doesn’t care about Mingyu at all, but, well, they’ve been engaged to be married for over two years now.”

“Three,” Minghao corrected. “Jihoon-hyung counts from that time Mingyu successfully tracked him by identifying the correct after-rain grassy scent.”

“Oh, right. I forgot they failed to mention the fact for about a year, and that my dearest Queen over there also pretended to know nothing for—hey!”

Seungcheol watched in horror as Dongho drew his sword and made to slash at Mingyu—only to be blocked by Jeonghan, who was as quick to draw his own sword so as to shield the prince with it.

“Dongho-yah, what on earth are you—hey!”

Jeonghan’s rhetorical question was cut off as Dongho disengaged their locked blades and instead threw a knife at Mingyu, which the queen again parried and sent flying towards the other three, right past Minghao’s ear. Seungcheol was quick to get to Jeonghan’s side—livid, needless to say, at the attacker.

The target, while himself a talented swordsman, was too shocked to do anything other than to cower behind the queen’s back. “Hyung!” Mingyu cried, confused as to why the princess was attacking him.

“Move away, Your Majesty,” Dongho coolly instructed as he stepped over to his horse and retrieved the short bow from his saddle. Sneaking glances at the trees, the princess made a quick work of stringing his bow and nocking an arrow. Soon enough, he was aiming at Mingyu’s head.

“Dongho!” Minki had stomped over, placing himself between the princess and the Caratteul royals, demanding, “what is going on?!”

“Look,” Dongho relaxed his draw to jut his chin out and around them.

And Minki did look. The prince gasped, clucked his tongue, and drew his sword as well, turning around to squint at Mingyu and then steeling himself for a fight.

“He’s right, Cheollie, Hannie,” the prince advanced towards the king and queen. Seungcheol had similarly drawn his king’s sword, his stance protective of Jeonghan, who remained protective of Mingyu. Minghao was beside his fellow prince, alert.

“I don’t understand.” Seungcheol, well within his rights, looked as outraged as he felt. His voice shook with diplomatic restraint, appalled that Jeonghan had to seriously cross blades with Dongho for perhaps the very first time.

“I’m sorry,” Minki spoke in an unusually slow manner, eyes darting from left to right and then to them again as he continued, “I would explain but all of you ought to really get out of the way now.”

Dongho drew his bow once more.

“Oh, I see. Very well,” Minghao said before delivering a perfect roundhouse kick at Mingyu, sending him a little to the side so that Dongho, with his swift adjusted aim and loosed arrow, could hit his target.

Mingyu yelped as he fell, and a screech was heard before the arrow flew past and lodged itself to the nearest tree behind him.

“ _Now_ we get out of the way,” Minghao continued, pulling Mingyu up and nudging both Seungcheol and Jeonghan to move back towards their horses. They watched as Dongho loosed arrows left and right while Minki guarded his back, slashing at anything that came towards the princess. The area was filled with a cacophony of screeching and hacking—Seungcheol noticed that it came not only from their patch of the forest but also beyond, where their servants and guards were more or less doing the same as Dongho and Minki.

As with all things, the battle came to an end. But long before it did, the Caratteul royals were able to deduce that, first, they had wandered into a recently akgae-infested area of the forest, which their hosts made a quick work of. Second, that an infected chameleon had situated itself on Mingyu’s shoulder and was Dongho’s actual target. The solitary pauldron the prince wore prevented him from noticing, although it might be argued that his immense focus in finding his missing fiancé made him rather oblivious to anything else. And last, Dongho said nothing lest the many creatures that have got them surrounded were triggered into attacking. The smallest of words or movements can set akgae-infected creatures off, that much they were sure of.

“Well done spotting the poor creature, Minghao,” Dongho commended, “invisible as it is.”

“Thanks, hyung.” Minghao beamed, offering his head so that the princess could ruffle his hair as well.

“Yet! How difficult is it, really, to just… oh, I don’t know, tell us instead of making it look like you’re out to kill Mingyu?” Seungcheol grumbled. The Rabudeul prince and princess chuckled.

“All right, we’re sorry. We were rather being dramatic,” Dongho admitted shamelessly. “But at the very least I know now to never let my guard down against Jeonghannie in a fight.”

“I was told people have always found it to be a terrible idea,” Jeonghan nodded matter-of-factly.

The two younger princes had finished gathering the dead fauna—an assortment of small to medium forest animals—in a forlorn heap along with enough firewood. The servants had everything prepared to light a fire.

“These poor things…” Mingyu lamented. “Was there really no other way but to cut them down?”

“And burn their bodies and nests,” Minki replied, shaking his head. “While we already know how to prevent the infestation from spreading, we haven’t found a way to reverse the infection in animals, unfortunately.”

“Could you, perhaps, do us a favour,” Dongho began with an uncharacteristic twitch in his voice, “and never speak of this incident to Jonghyun? Say nothing to Minhyun either, please.”

“Of course,” Seungcheol was quick to reassure. “We heard about the rough village case from this morning.”

“We don’t intend to keep this secret for long,” Minki added, “it’s just, right now…”

“You don’t want to add to his worries,” Jeonghan finished sympathetically. “We understand. Cheol and I noticed how they tried their best to keep their spirits up over breakfast.”

“I’m glad Seokmin didn’t get to see this,” Minghao muttered as he lowered the brand that was handed to him, setting the small funeral pyre ablaze. He stared with eyes full of pity at a dead hamster. “That one looks so much like Soonyoung-hyung, and I had to shoot it dead.”

Mingyu turned to him, sceptical. “You’ve never had any problems with shooting and roasting Soonyoung-hyung before.”

“Touché.”

**— » — « —**

Of course, a search party for a missing person would not be complete without a hound dog. Since Mingyu was already with the outdoor search, Noah, whose uncanny ability to locate Jonghyun, was immediately qualified for the castle search team. He had earlier set off with Aaron, Soonyoung, and Seokmin, although it took a while before the royal hound stopped leading the group back to Jonghyun. By then, Chan had almost died of amusement and Seungkwan took that opportunity to lead their youngest away from Jisoo by joining the search, leaving a coded message—through some complex series of eyebrow lifting—to Hansol, who understood that he was in charge of extracting information from either Jisoo-hyung or Wonwoo-hyung.

Between a laidback game of chess with Jonghyun and Wonwoo and yet another lute-accompanied vocal harmonizing with Minhyun and Jisoo, Hansol opted to sit with the former. He was pleasantly surprised when Junhui, who seemed to have gone with castle search party, came back with his lyre instead. Junhui joined the singers but not without communicating to Hansol—adeptly through eyebrow code, too—that Seungkwan had brought him on board the investigation and that he’ll see if he can get anything relevant out of Jisoo.

The chess game started without much tension and with commonplace, predictable moves from either player, as Jonghyun seemed to be paying some of his attention towards his queen, sneaking glances at Minhyun whenever he heard him sing a particularly good line or smiling to himself as he moved his pieces without thought.

Wonwoo tried to use this apparent distraction to his advantage, yet for some reason, he was still finding himself getting cornered with each move. Being as much of a sore loser as Jeonghan usually was, Wonwoo figured he might as well use underhanded tactics the way he knew their queen would.

“Surely you don’t want to miss out on the harmonizing, Hyung,” Wonwoo said after yet again catching Jonghyun smiling to himself and mouthing the words that his spouse was singing.

Jonghyun chuckled. “You know I don’t sing, Wonwoo-yah.”

“But you can. We know your voice sounds great with Minhyun-hyung’s.” This was answered by another chuckle, embarrassed this time, and Wonwoo thought his flattery was working well enough.

“Isn’t it great how you and he go so very well together?” The prince continued as he waited for his turn.

Jonghyun hummed.

“Quite so… Things turned out rather—well, I never really thought we were like that before.”

“And then all of a sudden you find yourself thinking a lot about him and wanting to just… be around him more.”

“Mm-hmm.”

“How did you handle it then?”

The musicians from the other side of the room broke into a chorus of laughter after Jisoo plucked the wrong note on the lute. Hansol, who had been on high alert upon hearing the wistful turn in Wonwoo’s voice, did not miss the way the older prince imitated the king. Wonwoo had allowed his softened gaze towards the lute player to linger a little longer than usual and had returned to his game with a similarly soft smile.

“Handle what?” Jonghyun then asked, finally making a move and taking out Wonwoo’s rook.

Wonwoo sighed at the loss. “Your, uh, feelings,” he scrambled to answer even as he tried to salvage his gameplay. “Towards Minhyun-hyung.”

“Wonwoo-yah.”

“Hyung?”

The prince looked back up at Jonghyun and found the latter staring at him with a mixture of confusion and concern.

“Forgive me if I’m unsure, but are you actually trying to distract me from the game using Minhyun or are you subtly asking me to help you figure out how to ask for Jisoo’s hand in marriage?”

Even Hansol jumped in his seat when Wonwoo’s knee jerked and hit the corner of the chess board, flipping the pieces in an unrecognizable mess. He and Jonghyun shared a look before the king drew Wonwoo’s frozen attention away from the game board.

“Begging your pardon, what?” Wonwoo blinked.

Jonghyun’s voice had considerately dropped in volume. “I asked if you want to talk about it. We could just pretend we’re still playing.” The king didn’t think he could actually help Wonwoo with how to actually propose, but Jonghyun was great at listening and figured it would be better to lend the prince a sympathetic ear.

“Wonwoo-hyung says yes,” Hansol answered for him, trying to hide his glee at this sudden development by gathering the pieces and rearranging them on the board in what hopefully looked like an actual chess game.

Said hyung threw the younger prince an exasperated look before giving in. “How did you even come to this conclusion?” Wonwoo then asked Jonghyun.

“Lucky guess, mostly. I thought it curious how you showed up last year to bring him home but, of course, there was nothing wrong with that.”

“And Hansol?”

“Minki-hyung told us this morning that he was glad for the two of you.”

Jonghyun laughed at that.

“Wait,” Hansol wanted to make sure, “so you do like Jisoo-hyung? In the marriage kind of way?”

Wonwoo picked up a chess piece as he mulled over the question. “I do very much like him,” he finally answered, placing the bishop back on the board. “But I don’t know if… I mean, I don’t think it’s my place to be proposing marriage.”

“Is it because you’re younger?” Jonghyun asked.

“Mingyu-hyung’s younger than Jihoon-hyung,” Hansol pointed out.

“Jihoon’s the one who proposed,” Wonwoo countered. “Well, commanded, more like. But it’s not that. I was only thinking of what Jisoo-hyung wants.”

“He probably wants you, too,” Hansol volunteered with ease. “You’re very handsome, and I can attest to how Jisoo-hyung himself has said so before.”

“I meant,” Wonwoo wheezed, his face red, “if he did want to get married in the first place. You know how he’s always wanted to take up the cloth.”

“That was _ages_ ago.” A decisive sniff came from Hansol’s right, and everyone turned to see Jihoon sitting there and figuring out how on earth the chess pieces got to their positions the way they were on the board. “And priesthood doesn’t suit Jisoo-hyung so you should marry him if you want him.”

“You’re here,” Wonwoo deadpanned.

“I am.”

“Everyone’s been out looking for you.”

“What do you mean? I’ve been in my room all morning. Nice to see you, Jonghyun-hyung.”

“Hello, Jihoon-ah. You haven’t eaten, have you?”

“Jihoon-ah!” Junhui’s voice cut from across the room, and he, Jisoo, and Minhyun stood up to join them. The queen’s arms went around the king, and Minhyun’s playful kissy face earned him a shove from an embarrassed Jonghyun instead of a return hug.

Hansol was quick to note how Jisoo sat down beside Wonwoo. as the former was, like Jihoon, drawn in by the odd placement of the chess pieces across the board. Noticing this, Wonwoo upset the board with his knee again, scattering the pieces. Jisoo’s astonishment was met by an incorrigible scrunching of Wonwoo’s nose, to which the older prince gave a fond grin.

“Hyung, Mingyu-hyung concocted a brew during lunch and you didn’t show up.” Hansol managed to say to Jihoon before anyone could notice that his attention had stolen off elsewhere. Theirs was a covert investigation, after all.

“Did he? I was asleep. I really was too tired, you know. And now I’m hungry. Where is he?”

“Out. Looking for you. Like everyone else is.” Wonwoo paraphrased his earlier statement.

“Jeonghan-hyung must have panicked then.” Jihoon surmised.

“Soonyoung, too,” Junhui added. “Excited but nonetheless panicking.”

The smaller prince snorted. “Who cares about Soonyoung—”

“Great news, everyone!” The door to the throne room burst open as Soonyoung’s voice boomed. “We know where Jihoonie has been! He’s—”

Noah’s bark announced his own arrival and he went straight for the group around the chessboard. He sniffed Jihoon once and then barked eagerly, running around everyone before claiming Jonghyun’s attention as a reward.

“—here?” Soonyoung continued. “How on earth are you here?”

“Jihoon-hyung!” Seokmin bellowed. “I’ve missed you so!”

Jihoon drew a long-suffering breath but graciously allowed Seokmin to tackle-hug him from behind and shower his cheek with kisses. This would take a lot of explaining, with a lot of interruptive questions, and many digressions by a lot of people. Already, he was getting tired of just thinking how much talking it would take.

“All right, everyone!” Jonghyun yelled amidst the confusion. All heads turned towards him, and the king was at a sudden loss of words. “Um…”

Minhyun was quick to the rescue, muttering a few words to Jonghyun. The king cleared his throat and continued,

“Why don’t we all have this discussion over tea and biscuits?”

“Oh,” Seungkwan had just arrived with Chan and Aaron. “What do you know, it’s already tea time.”

Aaron snapped his pocket watch closed, impressed. “Impeccable timing, as always, Your Majesties.”

**— » to be continued « —**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go! Hope to finish before the year ends, ahahahahahaHELPME


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